


Letters that were never sent

by Shanynde



Category: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 00:45:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8823256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shanynde/pseuds/Shanynde
Summary: 2 letters that were never sent when each learned about the pregnancy of Hannah.





	1. Milly's Letter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [turtlebook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtlebook/gifts).



Dear Adam, 

 

I was incandescently happy the day I met you. It is hard, to remember a point in my life when I had ever been so completely happy. You offered me something that I only dreamed of. And even after everything, you gave me a gift...a child. I am pregnant with your child. Part of me thinks that I should send Benjamin or Caleb out to tell you, but I haven’t. You hurt me too much and I am afraid of what happens if I see you before the baby is born.

 

Why do I say that? I never told you about my Pa and Ma. My parents had led me West only to die within a year of each other. We had arrived in Oregon Country full of hopes and dreams. My Pa would read the Bible to her and her Ma every evening as the sun went down. They had seeds to plant, land to till and a dream of a small home. I would have a garden of my own and my Ma showed me how to cook. I was so happy. You have no idea the calmness and joy I felt. In the evenings, Ma would sing as my Pa would swing me around the house. They taught me how to dance and I learned from my Pa how a man should respect and love his wife. They were true partners. And Ma became pregnant. She was going to have a baby in the spring.

 

But winter came early that year. It was so cold and Ma gave birth early. She and my baby brother died within a few hours of each other. Before she died, my Ma begged me to be strong and to be good. I could only nod and then Pa sent me out of the room. I cried and cried and begged God not to take my Ma. But it wasn’t enough. I was not enough. 

 

Pa was never the same after that. He couldn’t sleep and grief had broken him. He grew weak and in February, the fever struck him. He asked the local Reverend to care for me and he fought for a few weeks until he told me that he was going to my Ma and baby brother. He died that night. They are buried next to each other. Never parted in life or death. Pa always said that there were two kinds of people in the world. There were those who could love once and those who could love many, but you didn’t know which one it was until you lost your first love. I knew that I would be like that. I would only love once. 

 

I was so angry at them. Why couldn’t my Pa fight to live after the passing of my Ma? Wasn’t I enough to fight for? Why did he leave me? Why couldn’t someone choose me? Everyone expects me to be strong and I don’t feel strong. 

 

I then moved in with the Reverend and made a life for myself. I cooked, cleaned and worked. And as the years moved, I grew up and became more beautiful. Men asked me to the dances and to the barn raising but I never felt that connection that Ma and Pa had. I didn’t love any of them...what kind of woman did that make me? 

 

Then you came into my life, full of bravado and confidence. Oh, Adam you were so strong and sure. I knew that you could take care of me and be me equal. You went for what you wanted and I was thrilled that he wanted her. From the moment I saw you, my heart began to flutter and when you asked me to marry you, I felt no hesitation. Yes-you were the man I had been waiting for. I was in love with you. It just had not occurred to me that the same was not true with you.

 

It hurt me when we went home and all you wanted was a maid, and a washwoman and a cook for you and your brothers. It devastated me. Who did you think I was? Did you think I was the type of wife to shrug my shoulders and say, “Yes, Adam?” I wasn’t. I am strong and being in love did not change that.  
Haven’t I proven that? I’ve reformed your brothers into being men that any girl would be pleased to marry. They were turning into gentlemen. They respected me and are helpful. They treated me with more respect than you did. And then that disaster and the barn happened. Oh Adam, don’t you know that Pride is your greatest weakness? 

 

That night I heard you tell Gideon that, “one woman’s just about the same as the next.” I cried that night Adam. I had never cried that much since my Ma passed. It wasn’t right. I had fallen in love with you so easily and I was just a convenience to you. A woman to cook, clean and warm your bed. Truly Adam, if I had said no would you truly asked the next girl who you met? Was it solely convenience and practical living that made you decide that I was worthy of your attention and choice? 

 

Why could I never be enough? Why could someone never put me first? No one ever has. So I have to. If you knew I was pregnant and did not come down, well that tells me how you view your child. But if you came down, we would fight and I need all my strength for this baby. I will not be my Ma, I will survive and my child will know that they come first. Everything in my life will be for him or her and they will never feel the way that I did. They will never feel the way that you made me feel. He or she will be wanted and loved. 

 

Milly


	2. Adam's Letter

Dear Milly

 

I am good with words, Pa always used to say that I could talk anyone into anything but writing- that is a different story. But I need to figure out what I am going to say.

 

Gideon told me. Stubborn woman, why couldn’t you have told me sooner? Last time I checked, it took 9 months to make a baby and it is May. I left in November. You must have had a feeling or at least suspected! I should have been there. 

 

Pa died when Ma was pregnant with Gideon and she lived about a year after he was born, but grew weak and passed a few years later. Would you have wanted our last conversation to be that argument? What if you had died? Who would have raised our daughter? 

 

I needed to take charge, that is what I do. After Pa passed, I was head of the household and I couldn’t be indecisive. I had to be the leader, make sure the crops and chores were done. Gentleman and Dandy folk stuff was not important. Survival was. My brothers staying together was. I would not lose my brothers.

 

So taking the girls was just that. Me wanting my family to stay together. But now, I think of my daughter. What if someone took her? That man would be dead, strung up from the nearest tree. Same as anyone who hurt my family. Who hurt what was mine. And you are mine. I didn’t chose you just because you were strong, a hard worker and a good cook. Looking back, you challenged me, pushed me and made me a better man. I can’t stop thinking about you. 

 

I broke your trust, I hurt you and I knew it. I knew you were listening to me and Gideon and I didn’t care. I couldn’t deal with your face, full of guilt and shame. I wasn’t used to it, I guess. And I ignored you and was cruel. I knew you loved me more and I used that to my advantage. 

 

But how the times have changed. Gideon seems to think that you are a Goddess, one who can stand on her own with no man. And me, I’ve been a wreck thinking about you every day.

 

So-I’m coming home and I am going to fix this. I’ll get the girls back to their homes and I’ll win back your trust and love. I’ll be a good husband and father. I love you and I am sorry that it took me so long. But this is what you need to know, I’m a Pontipee and I fight to win. So get ready. Everything I do from now on is for you and our little one.

 

Your Husband, Adam


End file.
